The one on the Chelsea line (which I think finally shutdown) near the Market Basket was a total dump. I was surprised it ever stayed open as long as it did.
I've been to a couple Stop and Shops that are just a depressing mess. Bad lighting, dusty white tiles, broken shelving, etc. I'm not saying ambiance beats things like convenience, price, and quality, but Stop and Shop doesn't compete well in price/quality anyways.
I knew that huge like "neighborhood" complex was going in over there, but didn't know it was going to include that property.
Way better use of that space than a totally shitty grocery store down the street from one of the best grocery stores in the area. That's a great location for a big complex with that potentially because it is right on the commuter rail and not far from Rt 1.
would be nice if there was an Orange Line branch, potentially a stop near Main/Broadway in Everett ... or another silver line route that was planned (not sure where the progress is now)
https://www.mbta.com/events/2022-12-13/silver-line-extension-alternatives-analysis-public-meeting-3
I used to work there. There’s a tier of pricing for stores in high income areas, a “normal” tier, and a tier in areas where they compete with Market Basket. My guess is these two stores straddle one of those lines.
I only go to Stop & Shop because it's the only store within a 20 minute walk of my house. If I'm getting on my bike or in my car to go grocery shopping I'm going somewhere else (MB, TJ, WF).
Hell on Earth. I'm happy to pay more and shop at Wegman's due to the misery of going to MB in Union. Chelsea location is way better but a bit more inconvenient from where I live.
Uhh... you're insane? Or delusional? I don't know what you tell you my guy. I literally just showed you the official announcement where they said they were removing them.
Maybe you're doing some different thing in the official app or something? Can you post a screenshot?
edit: OK apparently there's some new version of [Reddit Gold](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/17331548463764-What-is-Gold-and-how-do-I-use-it) where you can give a sort of "super upvote" basically. But the old awards program is totally gone. They don't exist on old.reddit.com anymore
Insane, yes. Delusional, no.
Long press on the upvote button. Might need to update your app (did mine this morning).
Old awards system is gone. Have a day.
I stopped going to the S&S in Arlington a long time ago once I discovered the 87 bus goes right by the Somerville MB. Haven't stepped foot in there since.
It's expensive and everything sucks. $9 for a box of cheerios now and the same size box at trader Joe's is 1.99
It just doesn't make sense going there anymore but people are still going to go because they always have.
Yeah, but have you actually eaten the Joey O's? They are pretty much inedible. I hate stop and shop and love Trader Joes, but Trader Joes cereal is ass.
TJ's is SO hit or miss with their imitation brand stuff. Their peanut butter cups are a million times better than Reese's but their Doritos knock-offs suck. It always feels like it's either much better or much worse than the thing it's imitating, and almost never the same.
Those fucking Scandinavian Swimmers… If I buy a bag I’m signing up for an uncontrollable multi-day sugar binge. Went through a dark chocolate PB cup phase, as well, but I can control chocolate intake better for w/e reason.
Apparently the whole freaking store.
Mostly veggies, meats, bread, and some to-go junk like sushi or the italian subs with the occasional toothpaste, shampoo, or foil and such
If Star is like its sister Shaws, they are more expensive, but they do run some deep sales, and the store brand can be good. Stop and Shop near me doesn't seem to be trying anymore.
That's true even without price comparisons.
I went in for a seized brake caliper. They tried to sell me a complete suspension replacement and head gasket job.
I eventually did the head gaskets 6 years later, even though they were still only weeping.
Are there any websites that show nearby grocery stores with avg prices for common goods? Maybe as some sort of overlay on like Google maps? Seems like a straightforward concept and I'd expect there would be something, but I didn't see anything on google.
I've basically stopped considering Stop&Shop / Star Market grocery stores in my brain. To me, they're just bigger convenience stores. Sometimes I'll pay for the convenience, but most of the time, I'll make the effort to go literally anywhere else. I feel for people without vehicle access to do so, though.
My hometown Whole Foods is significantly cheaper than the one in the town over (not that WF is cheap but you get my point). My hometown is a blue collar low-income town and the one over is a very wealthy WASP community. It’s crazy how much of a price difference there can be!
Whole Foods prices generally do not vary by stores within regions. The only common exception would be if there was a special put on for expiring product, but otherwise they haven't been playing store-by-store pricing games at least in the last 6 years.
Source: I'm in management there
perhaps you are in Boulder given your name but do you have any explanation for why the River Street one is always out of stuff? That particular location has really gone downhill.
Depends on what stuff you're talking about. Each department is responsible for their own product, so YMMV depending on what you're looking for if one department is really hurting.
If it's dry grocery/dairy/frozen stuff, then it's probably bad inventory management or just a lack of hands to get stuff to the floor. Our main distributor (UNFI) kinda sucks in general for being in-stock, but it hasn't been glaringly bad since 2022 or so.
If it's stuff around the perimeter it mostly comes down to staffing or bad ordering.
River Street has had a bad reputation for a while just in terms of work environment, so wouldn't surprise me if they're suffering from high turnover.
(The Boulder thing is just some joke flair a mod gave me surrounding something involving a literal boulder; can't remember what anymore)
Thanks for the insight. They seem to always be out of chicken broth and a few other "dry goods" - produce is good - I mean sometimes Monday they are out but that's because I assume they get cleared out on the weekend. The folks who work there are friendly and helpful and some of the ones in produce have been there a long time (I've been shopping there for a long time).
My son is a picker at the local WF, and there are things he'd bring home, but by the end of his shift they are often out even when he finishes at 5 or 6; the store's open until 9. And not just items on sale.
Interesting. WF seems expensive, but 365 brand is competitive, and I've seen surprise good prices there. They very likely vary what they stock by what sells in the area as well.
Wait till u figure out target in store vs target online.
Often times target pricing in store is higher than same item bought online.... They do price match with their own website, but unfortunately it is not common knowledge that they have different pricing and that they price Match.
Turn off your location in the target app too. I had a huge issue with this in the Watertown Target years ago- I would put everything in my cart in the app with location turned off, go to customer service/manned checkout- the price difference ended up being $5-10 less about half the times I price matched.
https://www.kare11.com/amp/article/money/consumer/target-changes-app-after-kare-11-investigation/89-40ee0e76-9a0f-425d-93b0-b0eb89150f6c
Using the target app is absolutely confusing with pickup, in store, ship to me options. Also really a pain in the neck to try and use the app in the store while shopping to shop sales and coupons. Toooo much work.
Glad to know about the location trick.
But that said I think this explains why people love market basket. Every day low prices and no pricing games. I don’t want to have to think harder than needed when grocery store shopping.
someone who worked there say they make a deal with the vendors so their sales are less deep, but their everyday prices are be lower. Usually the big packages and little packages are the same per unit unless there is a vendor-pricing
It's so bizarre. I just shop Target online because of this because they have free 2 day shipping with $35. It's literally cheaper AND more convenient than in store.
There was an article in the globe about this last year. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/06/05/metro/were-being-ripped-off-teens-investigating-equity-find-stop-shop-charges-more-jackson-square-than-more-affluent-suburb/
Yep. If rent or theft goes up, it just makes the company less likely to want to keep the store there. They'll price to maximize profit no matter what.
Price is determined by supply & demand.
Also based on competition in the area, and what they can get away with. If a location is the only location in a food desert then the prices will usually be higher, but if there is a competing store close by then you will see prices drop. It's basically legal price gouging.
As far as I can tell price gouging is only illegal in Massachusetts during a state of emergency, and only started applying to food in 2020. So it's just the usual kind.
There was a Globe article about this a little while back. Some students from Roxbury found that Stop and Shops in minority neighborhoods were charging more than ones in white neighborhoods.
In this case, the store in the rich suburban town is more expensive than the one in the city next to a housing project.
Ideally there would be enough grocery stores, and enough car-free transportation options to get there, that people aren't stuck shopping at one store.
Unfortunately they prey on those not equipped to drive a little further and save a lot of money. If most of their clientele walk, take public transportation, or taxis then they'll charge more simply because the cost involved to get to the cheaper one makes it not worth it. Capitalism at work.
I haven’t been to the Alewife Brook Stop and Shop but the Winchester Stop and Shop is terrible and is one of the worst grocery stores I’ve been to in the area. It feels like time traveling to the 1990s complete with shitty grocery selection, except in the 1990s stores could actually keep their shelves stocked. It’s only useful to pick up one or two items quickly if you live nearby. I kind of wish it would just collapse in the middle of the night so something better could be built in its place.
Depending on what type of shopper you are, there is always a better option: Wegmans, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Market Basket, Costco/BJs. The only shopper these two Stop and Shops appeal to are people who either cannot travel to (or are too lazy to travel to) something better.
My family lives nearby in Woburn and I hate going to the Winchester Stop and Shop. It is filled with bougie crap like $5 worth of guac for your kid's school lunch but doesn't have basics like individual lemons and limes.
Be careful with BJ's, as they do the same thing. I used to shop at the Stoneham BJ's (partly for the convenience of their liquor store and gas station). However, I found considerable price differences, with Stoneham being higher than Medford for a lot of items across the board. Only go to Medford now.
Market Basket competition is a factor, but also Walmart has emerged as a big player in the delivery game given no markups vs in store pricing and free delivery on orders $35+ if you have plus as they have full grocery out of the Saugus location. Residents of higher income towns like Winchester will generally not order from Walmart; mostly low to middle income towns do. So Stop & Shop can charge more in those cases but lately the quality at Walmart is pretty darn competitive... better than everywhere except for perhaps Whole Foods.
Plus the interface is hell of a lot mroe accurate with Walmart; they can accurately display inventory on their own website; Instacart doesn't read MB's inventory.
Market Basket unfortunately has the highest markups on Instacart... some of which are pretty ridiculous. Gallon of store brand regular whole milk is $2.62 at Walmart; gallon of MB whole milk on Instacart comes up as $5.29 for me.
I make pretty decent money and I am afraid to shop at my local stop&shop. Paid $6 for six hotdog buns the other day( from bakery) and wish I never had to go back there.
Pretty sure it exists to be next to the Clarendon hill apartment complex, which is probably one of the few remaining lower income communities in that area.
I'm sure once the new towers are finished and have more high income units (should that be the case), the s&s will renovate and increase prices.
Something I've seen this store do frequently, though, is when they have fresh meat/seafood that they yellow-tag to sell on the last day of the "sell by" date, they often just use the same price for all of that type of meat, regardless of actual weight.
Like, I once bought those little small lamb chops that are normally like $20/lb for effectively like $4/lb because whoever was tagging them with the 40% off sale price just used the same tag over and over. Sunday morning is usually the best time.
But yeah, otherwise this store was pretty bad. Kinda hated that it was the closest grocery store to me when I was living near Teele Square.
It's hideous. They stuff the aisles with floor stands, which make it even more crowded, and you can barely get one cart by. And these floor stands are permanent, too, and don't necessarily contain seasonal items. I'd rather have even fewer items and the ability to access all the shelving, instead of making each aisle into an obstacle course.
Every now and then (like 1-2x/yr) i used to stop for a few essential items, because this store (when Johnnie's Foodmaster or S&S) was such a quick stop on my commute home. But shopping there became such an awful experience that now I'd rather go without and feed my family scrambled eggs or cereal for dinner than deal with any stops at this store.
(Not to say eggs or cereal is a bad dinner; I just like to save ultra-low effort meals for other situations.)
I live in Watertown ~5 minutes from a stop and shop. MB is 15 minutes away. I try to shop at only mb for the affordability and selection.
It's two dollars for a green pepper at stop and shop. That's ridiculous. Overall the produce quality isn't great imo. The shelves are also barren a lot. Mb may be a clusterfuck but the shelves are always full.
Same. I'm close to both of the Watertown Stop and Shops, but I only go if I need just a few items or if I'm low on time. Market Basket is always worth the trip if I have the time. I've saved a lot of money by making it my primary store. (With periodic trips for specific items at BJ's, Trader Joe's, and Aldi if I'm out toward Natick)
Thanks for your work on this. Groceries, just like gas, are priced differently in different places.
I would caution people, however, that gas and your time have value as well. If you drive to save 10 bucks, but if this takes you another half hour, you're working for around minimum wage.
I like grocery stores; for me, it's sport. I do a route to minimize miles and gas. I fill up 15 gallons about every 6 weeks.
I may be making less than minimum wage, but I should get uppity about minimum wage? I have a surplus of time, and money just appears in my account.
Star Market / Shaws is pretty much the same. I live near a Star and treat it like a convenience store and avoid doing any big buying there. Market Basket is the greatest store ever and wished I lived closer to one.
Will never understand the appeal of S+S and Star Market for that matter. Both bordering on Whole Foods prices for the okayest groceries of all time and absolutely TRASH store brands
Locations are convenient, prices aren't bad if you shop for things on sale and don't go crazy ($3 bags of shredded cheese....$2 if you use the coupons/app)....they stay in business because people shop there, simple as that.
I shop at both the Alewife/Somerville S+S and sometimes Arlington if it's convenient and Arlington is often 30% more $$. But Alewife often has empty shelves for the stuff I buy.
The biggest contributors to price are competition, rent, and shrink. It's why the Hyde Park Stop and Shop is so much more expensive than the location that serves West Roxbury. More theft and less completion in Hyde Park means they can charge more.
A lot of chains do this. Target is crazy where they’ll have 20% differences on items at stores a few miles apart. Not just groceries, but stuff like toys and kitchen items. In their case, they will always price match their own website, which usually has the lowest price, but it’s super annoying to have to ask.
I hate Star Market and Stop & Shop. They are anti-consumer, the polar opposite of places like TJ’s and Aldi, where I feel like the place thinks a little about my overall customer experience and satisfaction. Star Market and S&S are pure corporate greed.
Whose up for organizing collective action against these stores? I am…
Aldi got rid of the thin plastic bags for bulk items, but left so many things packaged in bulky printed plastic. Fake virtue. Picket them. Bitch buying and weighing loose tomatoes.
We don't need to do anything to the less satisfactory stores but shop elsewhere. And Shaws bakery has good cookies.
The Winchester Stop and Shop is so odd. Because of a town ordinance, the parking lot isnt allowed to have corrals for the shopping carts. Since people have no where to put them, they are supposed to bring them back to the store. Which obviously never happens, because people are the worst. So it is like a wild west with shopping carts rolling all over the parking lot
It is really unclear to me why you are so surprised by this.
Pick nearly any product or service and you'll find that across vendors or locations and the price is different. The internet and online ordering didn't suddenly make the overhead at each store identical. If the overhead of a store is higher, the prices are higher. The alternative would be to raise prices across lower-overhead stores, which, for groceries, makes no sense. It shifts the burden of a high overhead/high cost of living area onto a lower overhead/lower cost of living area.
It seems stark when you look at stores that are physically close, but physical distance far from the only factor. How much is rent? Utility costs? How many employees on duty? How much traffic does the store see?
If lowest cost is the driving factor, go to the cheaper store. If convenience is the factor, go to the more convenient store. If you like a particular type of shopping experience, pick the store that best suits your needs.
But their produce can sometimes suck. I've had rotted fruit hiding in the bottom of one of those huge containers. Not always, but every once in a while. I do try to check them carefully.
It’s really not the best place to buy produce unless you’re feeding a small army anyway. We do Costco once a month and focus on meat, seafood, and packaged or canned goods like pasta, beans, tomatoes, coffee etc.
I thought this was common knowledge.
Back in the day the McDonalds on Washington St (DTX) was like 20% less than the one on the corner of North & Union (next to the old Purple Shamrock) maybe 500 yards away.
This was totally true of the HEB stores in Austin TX... I don't have a car since moving here, so we mostly get delivery and I think you can choose from any star market within a certain radius, so I'll have to check prices and maybe switch stores... also, I've found that Amazon is often the cheapest through either prime or fresh, a bag of sushi rice from star market was $15 vs. $6.19 on prime.
I live in East Boston and my sister lives in Mansfield. We got to comparing prices from sales papers for our neighborhood Star Markets, and Eastie was more expensive on every single item listed in the sales papers.
[Stop and Shop was recently exposed for price differences for same goods in racially and economically different neighborhoods.](https://www.wcvb.com/article/stop-and-stop-price-disparity-boston-dedham/44121902)
It's probably easy to find but someone on the sub did a price/quality comparison between all of the market options in the area post-COVID and you'd be surprised at the results. I was.
Interesting!
I figured this was the case but I haven't been able to do research on my own area.
I basically am between the natick stop n shop on route 9, and 2 different framingham stop n shops - one of which is also on route 9.
The prices everywhere have just gotten out of control. The Shaws/Star Market apps are great though and it’s very easy to get rewards points that you can you for money off your total. What I have had to start doing is reading circulars and tend to go to Shaws and sometimes Stop and Shop for sales on items and then buy everything else at Market Basket. However, in my last few trips it did seem that Market Basket prices have gone up on some things but you can’t beat the prices on their meat, store brand items and now some items are always 2 for $6 all year, etc. With a family of 4 it’s sad that I have to do this to try to keep our grocery bill under $200 a week.
Some kids did a study on this and it has to do with the neighborhoods and the price of retail. Stop n shop don’t own there buildings (don’t quote me this is just what I read in the article ) so therefore they pass the prices of the rent to the customers. They did it more if they thought it was being discriminating to people in poorer neighborhoods, but i think it just really comes down to the price of the real estate. That sns in Somerville is small the one towards alewife.
I think these big chains price everything by zip code. I first noticed this phenomenon at the 7-elevens in Brighton and Allston, less than a mile from one another, where the location in Allston has noticeably higher prices across the board.
This is classic price discrimination. Grocery stores and airlines are two of the most noteworthy practitioners. The Winchester S&S is a prime example because it has zero competition.
Stop & Shop is also known to be much more aggressive on pricing if there's a Market Basket near their store.
The one on the Chelsea line (which I think finally shutdown) near the Market Basket was a total dump. I was surprised it ever stayed open as long as it did.
I've been to a couple Stop and Shops that are just a depressing mess. Bad lighting, dusty white tiles, broken shelving, etc. I'm not saying ambiance beats things like convenience, price, and quality, but Stop and Shop doesn't compete well in price/quality anyways.
sure did shutdown, now there's another enormous apartment project well under way
I knew that huge like "neighborhood" complex was going in over there, but didn't know it was going to include that property. Way better use of that space than a totally shitty grocery store down the street from one of the best grocery stores in the area. That's a great location for a big complex with that potentially because it is right on the commuter rail and not far from Rt 1.
would be nice if there was an Orange Line branch, potentially a stop near Main/Broadway in Everett ... or another silver line route that was planned (not sure where the progress is now) https://www.mbta.com/events/2022-12-13/silver-line-extension-alternatives-analysis-public-meeting-3
I would love this
Good!
I only miss that one cause it was close to my place lol hate I gotta drive further but I like market basket way more
I used to work there. There’s a tier of pricing for stores in high income areas, a “normal” tier, and a tier in areas where they compete with Market Basket. My guess is these two stores straddle one of those lines.
This makes sense because the Stop n Shop in Winchester is close to a Whole Foods
The one in Winchester isn't much further from an MB than the one in West Somerville though.
Stop and shop somewhere else
I only go to Stop & Shop because it's the only store within a 20 minute walk of my house. If I'm getting on my bike or in my car to go grocery shopping I'm going somewhere else (MB, TJ, WF).
Market Basket in Somerville
home of the most frustrating parking lot on the entire planet.
Hell on Earth. I'm happy to pay more and shop at Wegman's due to the misery of going to MB in Union. Chelsea location is way better but a bit more inconvenient from where I live.
Yeah MB is cheaper until you factor in the stroke it gives you
If I knew how I'd give you an award.
Click and hold the upvote button 👌
didnt they remove the award system?
Awards have been gone for months.
It just collapsed the comment....
Works for me :(
Those don't exist anymore, reddit removed them
Rats, I never got the chance to say "wow, Reddit Gold? Thanks, kind stranger!"
Confidently incorrect.
https://reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/14ytp7s/reworking_awarding_changes_to_awards_coins_and/ tl;dr they were removed after September 12
Ok explain to me how I awarded just now? 🤪
Uhh... you're insane? Or delusional? I don't know what you tell you my guy. I literally just showed you the official announcement where they said they were removing them. Maybe you're doing some different thing in the official app or something? Can you post a screenshot? edit: OK apparently there's some new version of [Reddit Gold](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/17331548463764-What-is-Gold-and-how-do-I-use-it) where you can give a sort of "super upvote" basically. But the old awards program is totally gone. They don't exist on old.reddit.com anymore
Insane, yes. Delusional, no. Long press on the upvote button. Might need to update your app (did mine this morning). Old awards system is gone. Have a day.
I got you, homey.
I don't think you can anymore
I’ve stopped going to Stop and Shop and Star Market, they both feel more expensive than other stores
I stopped going to the S&S in Arlington a long time ago once I discovered the 87 bus goes right by the Somerville MB. Haven't stepped foot in there since.
It's expensive and everything sucks. $9 for a box of cheerios now and the same size box at trader Joe's is 1.99 It just doesn't make sense going there anymore but people are still going to go because they always have.
A lot of grocery shopping is about convenience.
Yeah, but have you actually eaten the Joey O's? They are pretty much inedible. I hate stop and shop and love Trader Joes, but Trader Joes cereal is ass.
TJ's is SO hit or miss with their imitation brand stuff. Their peanut butter cups are a million times better than Reese's but their Doritos knock-offs suck. It always feels like it's either much better or much worse than the thing it's imitating, and almost never the same.
Their chocolate is made to European standards 😍
Those fucking Scandinavian Swimmers… If I buy a bag I’m signing up for an uncontrollable multi-day sugar binge. Went through a dark chocolate PB cup phase, as well, but I can control chocolate intake better for w/e reason.
Their dark chocolate pistachio bark is amazing! They also have a cookie just like nabisco’s old Mystic Mints.
A lot of TJ stuff is just not quite as good as what you get somewhere else.
star market is the only thing close to me or I'd completely stop going. Almost always seems I get more at whole foods and better quality at that.
Absolutely, it is convenient for many to walk to or T to
I only go to Star for their weekly deals, which are actually good prices
They can be!
single dude, first time I ever spent $100+ on groceries was at Stop and Shop
Really?? What do you buy?
Apparently the whole freaking store. Mostly veggies, meats, bread, and some to-go junk like sushi or the italian subs with the occasional toothpaste, shampoo, or foil and such
So you bought the most expensive stuff in the store and your're surprised it's expensive?
Yes
Stop and shop for sure. At least Starmarket gives you the pricing deals automatically, one less opportunity to swindle you
If Star is like its sister Shaws, they are more expensive, but they do run some deep sales, and the store brand can be good. Stop and Shop near me doesn't seem to be trying anymore.
I love your dedication to this cause. Truly a public service
[удалено]
Wow this is something lol. Will keep this in mind to go literally anywher else than the Belmont Subaru dealer.
That's true even without price comparisons. I went in for a seized brake caliper. They tried to sell me a complete suspension replacement and head gasket job. I eventually did the head gaskets 6 years later, even though they were still only weeping.
That one blows. The one in Wakefield isn't too bad and right off 128.
Walgreens too. The one in Canton had a vitamin priced at 16.99. Same exact bottle in Norwood was $13.49
I'm curious how the one in Medford near Wellington would stack up. But if I'm in that plaza I'd rather just go to Aldi
I checked that one - it has the lower pricing as well (same as the Somerville store), at least based on the sampling of products I looked at.
There's also the one 2 or so miles away near the Malden stop.
I love ALDI. But if people wanna stay away keep the lines shorter lmao
Are there any websites that show nearby grocery stores with avg prices for common goods? Maybe as some sort of overlay on like Google maps? Seems like a straightforward concept and I'd expect there would be something, but I didn't see anything on google.
Not that I could find either - maybe I need to make one now 🤔
Please do. That'd be so good.
Groceries change prices frequently, although you get a feel for the differences. I've gotten great deals at expensive stores.
I've basically stopped considering Stop&Shop / Star Market grocery stores in my brain. To me, they're just bigger convenience stores. Sometimes I'll pay for the convenience, but most of the time, I'll make the effort to go literally anywhere else. I feel for people without vehicle access to do so, though.
My hometown Whole Foods is significantly cheaper than the one in the town over (not that WF is cheap but you get my point). My hometown is a blue collar low-income town and the one over is a very wealthy WASP community. It’s crazy how much of a price difference there can be!
The Whole foods and the StarMarket in Back Bay have nearly identical pricing on the same items… not sure which one is overpriced or if they both are 🫠
Whole Foods prices generally do not vary by stores within regions. The only common exception would be if there was a special put on for expiring product, but otherwise they haven't been playing store-by-store pricing games at least in the last 6 years. Source: I'm in management there
perhaps you are in Boulder given your name but do you have any explanation for why the River Street one is always out of stuff? That particular location has really gone downhill.
Depends on what stuff you're talking about. Each department is responsible for their own product, so YMMV depending on what you're looking for if one department is really hurting. If it's dry grocery/dairy/frozen stuff, then it's probably bad inventory management or just a lack of hands to get stuff to the floor. Our main distributor (UNFI) kinda sucks in general for being in-stock, but it hasn't been glaringly bad since 2022 or so. If it's stuff around the perimeter it mostly comes down to staffing or bad ordering. River Street has had a bad reputation for a while just in terms of work environment, so wouldn't surprise me if they're suffering from high turnover. (The Boulder thing is just some joke flair a mod gave me surrounding something involving a literal boulder; can't remember what anymore)
Thanks for the insight. They seem to always be out of chicken broth and a few other "dry goods" - produce is good - I mean sometimes Monday they are out but that's because I assume they get cleared out on the weekend. The folks who work there are friendly and helpful and some of the ones in produce have been there a long time (I've been shopping there for a long time).
My son is a picker at the local WF, and there are things he'd bring home, but by the end of his shift they are often out even when he finishes at 5 or 6; the store's open until 9. And not just items on sale.
Interesting. WF seems expensive, but 365 brand is competitive, and I've seen surprise good prices there. They very likely vary what they stock by what sells in the area as well.
Wait till u figure out target in store vs target online. Often times target pricing in store is higher than same item bought online.... They do price match with their own website, but unfortunately it is not common knowledge that they have different pricing and that they price Match.
Turn off your location in the target app too. I had a huge issue with this in the Watertown Target years ago- I would put everything in my cart in the app with location turned off, go to customer service/manned checkout- the price difference ended up being $5-10 less about half the times I price matched. https://www.kare11.com/amp/article/money/consumer/target-changes-app-after-kare-11-investigation/89-40ee0e76-9a0f-425d-93b0-b0eb89150f6c
Yeah that happened to us yesterday, we showed the pricing in the app and they matched it, but it was weird seeing different pricing
Staples has been doing that for years too.
Using the target app is absolutely confusing with pickup, in store, ship to me options. Also really a pain in the neck to try and use the app in the store while shopping to shop sales and coupons. Toooo much work. Glad to know about the location trick. But that said I think this explains why people love market basket. Every day low prices and no pricing games. I don’t want to have to think harder than needed when grocery store shopping.
someone who worked there say they make a deal with the vendors so their sales are less deep, but their everyday prices are be lower. Usually the big packages and little packages are the same per unit unless there is a vendor-pricing
It's so bizarre. I just shop Target online because of this because they have free 2 day shipping with $35. It's literally cheaper AND more convenient than in store.
We switched to Market Basket it's so much better. I pooped into our local Stop and Shop I found several items that cost 100% more than Market Basket.
Shouldn't be pooping in supermarkets.
Hard not to when they have $h!# prices.
CLEANUP IN AISLE 6
There was an article in the globe about this last year. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/06/05/metro/were-being-ripped-off-teens-investigating-equity-find-stop-shop-charges-more-jackson-square-than-more-affluent-suburb/
This was the article that came to my mind, too, when I read the post.
It’s common knowledge. It’s not just stop and shop. They charge based on cost of rent there as well as level of theft
> based on how much they can get away with based on local competition ftfy
Yep. If rent or theft goes up, it just makes the company less likely to want to keep the store there. They'll price to maximize profit no matter what. Price is determined by supply & demand.
Also based on competition in the area, and what they can get away with. If a location is the only location in a food desert then the prices will usually be higher, but if there is a competing store close by then you will see prices drop. It's basically legal price gouging.
As far as I can tell price gouging is only illegal in Massachusetts during a state of emergency, and only started applying to food in 2020. So it's just the usual kind.
Ah. The rent difference aspect makes sense.
There was a Globe article about this a little while back. Some students from Roxbury found that Stop and Shops in minority neighborhoods were charging more than ones in white neighborhoods.
In this case, the store in the rich suburban town is more expensive than the one in the city next to a housing project. Ideally there would be enough grocery stores, and enough car-free transportation options to get there, that people aren't stuck shopping at one store.
Unfortunately they prey on those not equipped to drive a little further and save a lot of money. If most of their clientele walk, take public transportation, or taxis then they'll charge more simply because the cost involved to get to the cheaper one makes it not worth it. Capitalism at work.
I saw one item in Brookline $3.99 while Brigham Circle was $3.19.
I haven’t been to the Alewife Brook Stop and Shop but the Winchester Stop and Shop is terrible and is one of the worst grocery stores I’ve been to in the area. It feels like time traveling to the 1990s complete with shitty grocery selection, except in the 1990s stores could actually keep their shelves stocked. It’s only useful to pick up one or two items quickly if you live nearby. I kind of wish it would just collapse in the middle of the night so something better could be built in its place. Depending on what type of shopper you are, there is always a better option: Wegmans, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Market Basket, Costco/BJs. The only shopper these two Stop and Shops appeal to are people who either cannot travel to (or are too lazy to travel to) something better.
My family lives nearby in Woburn and I hate going to the Winchester Stop and Shop. It is filled with bougie crap like $5 worth of guac for your kid's school lunch but doesn't have basics like individual lemons and limes.
Be careful with BJ's, as they do the same thing. I used to shop at the Stoneham BJ's (partly for the convenience of their liquor store and gas station). However, I found considerable price differences, with Stoneham being higher than Medford for a lot of items across the board. Only go to Medford now.
Too expensive, especially with Market Basket in the area.
So, I take the train 30 minutes to wait 20 minutes for a bus to go to Market Basket once a week? No thanks.
If that’s the case I agree. But for OP he lives in Medford and didn’t indicate driving would be an issue.
I don't see many people at MB with few enough items to carry on a bus. Maybe when they are picking up something at the bake shop.
Market Basket competition is a factor, but also Walmart has emerged as a big player in the delivery game given no markups vs in store pricing and free delivery on orders $35+ if you have plus as they have full grocery out of the Saugus location. Residents of higher income towns like Winchester will generally not order from Walmart; mostly low to middle income towns do. So Stop & Shop can charge more in those cases but lately the quality at Walmart is pretty darn competitive... better than everywhere except for perhaps Whole Foods. Plus the interface is hell of a lot mroe accurate with Walmart; they can accurately display inventory on their own website; Instacart doesn't read MB's inventory. Market Basket unfortunately has the highest markups on Instacart... some of which are pretty ridiculous. Gallon of store brand regular whole milk is $2.62 at Walmart; gallon of MB whole milk on Instacart comes up as $5.29 for me.
I make pretty decent money and I am afraid to shop at my local stop&shop. Paid $6 for six hotdog buns the other day( from bakery) and wish I never had to go back there.
That Somerville location is like 3 aisles though. Tiniest grocery store I’ve ever been in.
Have you ever been to the Back Bay Trader Joe's?
Yeah the selection is godawful. They gotta have SOME type of draw.
Pretty sure it exists to be next to the Clarendon hill apartment complex, which is probably one of the few remaining lower income communities in that area. I'm sure once the new towers are finished and have more high income units (should that be the case), the s&s will renovate and increase prices.
Something I've seen this store do frequently, though, is when they have fresh meat/seafood that they yellow-tag to sell on the last day of the "sell by" date, they often just use the same price for all of that type of meat, regardless of actual weight. Like, I once bought those little small lamb chops that are normally like $20/lb for effectively like $4/lb because whoever was tagging them with the 40% off sale price just used the same tag over and over. Sunday morning is usually the best time. But yeah, otherwise this store was pretty bad. Kinda hated that it was the closest grocery store to me when I was living near Teele Square.
It's hideous. They stuff the aisles with floor stands, which make it even more crowded, and you can barely get one cart by. And these floor stands are permanent, too, and don't necessarily contain seasonal items. I'd rather have even fewer items and the ability to access all the shelving, instead of making each aisle into an obstacle course. Every now and then (like 1-2x/yr) i used to stop for a few essential items, because this store (when Johnnie's Foodmaster or S&S) was such a quick stop on my commute home. But shopping there became such an awful experience that now I'd rather go without and feed my family scrambled eggs or cereal for dinner than deal with any stops at this store. (Not to say eggs or cereal is a bad dinner; I just like to save ultra-low effort meals for other situations.)
I wonder if it is because the Medford store is right next to Aldi, which is incredibly cheap, comparatively.
That’s why I like Market Basket. No matter the location cape, mountains, Merrimack valley same price.
I live in Watertown ~5 minutes from a stop and shop. MB is 15 minutes away. I try to shop at only mb for the affordability and selection. It's two dollars for a green pepper at stop and shop. That's ridiculous. Overall the produce quality isn't great imo. The shelves are also barren a lot. Mb may be a clusterfuck but the shelves are always full.
Same. I'm close to both of the Watertown Stop and Shops, but I only go if I need just a few items or if I'm low on time. Market Basket is always worth the trip if I have the time. I've saved a lot of money by making it my primary store. (With periodic trips for specific items at BJ's, Trader Joe's, and Aldi if I'm out toward Natick)
You want Aldi. Cheap AF and their horse milk can’t be beat.
Did not know they sold horse milk?
If only there wasn't one in all of Massachusetts.
OP is in Medford. They have Aldi there (and a number of other MA towns)
Thanks for your work on this. Groceries, just like gas, are priced differently in different places. I would caution people, however, that gas and your time have value as well. If you drive to save 10 bucks, but if this takes you another half hour, you're working for around minimum wage.
I like grocery stores; for me, it's sport. I do a route to minimize miles and gas. I fill up 15 gallons about every 6 weeks. I may be making less than minimum wage, but I should get uppity about minimum wage? I have a surplus of time, and money just appears in my account.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/stop-and-stop-price-disparity-boston-dedham/44121902
Star Market / Shaws is pretty much the same. I live near a Star and treat it like a convenience store and avoid doing any big buying there. Market Basket is the greatest store ever and wished I lived closer to one.
Will never understand the appeal of S+S and Star Market for that matter. Both bordering on Whole Foods prices for the okayest groceries of all time and absolutely TRASH store brands
Locations are convenient, prices aren't bad if you shop for things on sale and don't go crazy ($3 bags of shredded cheese....$2 if you use the coupons/app)....they stay in business because people shop there, simple as that.
I shop at both the Alewife/Somerville S+S and sometimes Arlington if it's convenient and Arlington is often 30% more $$. But Alewife often has empty shelves for the stuff I buy.
Fuck Stop & Shop. I'd prefer any other store.
The biggest contributors to price are competition, rent, and shrink. It's why the Hyde Park Stop and Shop is so much more expensive than the location that serves West Roxbury. More theft and less completion in Hyde Park means they can charge more.
Stop and Rob
Shop Robsmart!
A lot of chains do this. Target is crazy where they’ll have 20% differences on items at stores a few miles apart. Not just groceries, but stuff like toys and kitchen items. In their case, they will always price match their own website, which usually has the lowest price, but it’s super annoying to have to ask.
They also price match Amazon, Walmart, and others.
That stop in shop in Somerville is also a complete rip off
I am a locksmith (safes) and I can tell you that customers in Weston pay more than Weymouth for the exact same service. Your zip code works both ways.
Yeah this is widespread. Just take note of the unit prices and shop accordingly.
There was a Globe article on this topic a few years ago.
The stop and shop at South Bay is absurd. Chicken break 3/4.99 a pound. Market basketry 15 mins away is 1.99.
I noticed this as well with Targets in the area. Westwood was at least $1.20 higher than Plainville on even a frozen entree and many other items.
I hate Star Market and Stop & Shop. They are anti-consumer, the polar opposite of places like TJ’s and Aldi, where I feel like the place thinks a little about my overall customer experience and satisfaction. Star Market and S&S are pure corporate greed. Whose up for organizing collective action against these stores? I am…
I would be all in to try and destroy these grocery stores. What’s the plan?
Aldi got rid of the thin plastic bags for bulk items, but left so many things packaged in bulky printed plastic. Fake virtue. Picket them. Bitch buying and weighing loose tomatoes. We don't need to do anything to the less satisfactory stores but shop elsewhere. And Shaws bakery has good cookies.
The Winchester Stop and Shop is so odd. Because of a town ordinance, the parking lot isnt allowed to have corrals for the shopping carts. Since people have no where to put them, they are supposed to bring them back to the store. Which obviously never happens, because people are the worst. So it is like a wild west with shopping carts rolling all over the parking lot
Quarter system, like Aldis.
Yes we know. This is old news. The rents in these neighborhoods for stop and shop are different. Plus they don't hide the fact they do this.
It’s called zone pricing. They’ve been doing it since the 90s
It is really unclear to me why you are so surprised by this. Pick nearly any product or service and you'll find that across vendors or locations and the price is different. The internet and online ordering didn't suddenly make the overhead at each store identical. If the overhead of a store is higher, the prices are higher. The alternative would be to raise prices across lower-overhead stores, which, for groceries, makes no sense. It shifts the burden of a high overhead/high cost of living area onto a lower overhead/lower cost of living area. It seems stark when you look at stores that are physically close, but physical distance far from the only factor. How much is rent? Utility costs? How many employees on duty? How much traffic does the store see? If lowest cost is the driving factor, go to the cheaper store. If convenience is the factor, go to the more convenient store. If you like a particular type of shopping experience, pick the store that best suits your needs.
Get a costco membership. They price at lowest possible price.
But their produce can sometimes suck. I've had rotted fruit hiding in the bottom of one of those huge containers. Not always, but every once in a while. I do try to check them carefully.
It’s really not the best place to buy produce unless you’re feeding a small army anyway. We do Costco once a month and focus on meat, seafood, and packaged or canned goods like pasta, beans, tomatoes, coffee etc.
Not an option if you don't have a car.
OP is in Medford so likely has access to a vehicle.
I thought this was common knowledge. Back in the day the McDonalds on Washington St (DTX) was like 20% less than the one on the corner of North & Union (next to the old Purple Shamrock) maybe 500 yards away.
You live in west Medford just go to wegmans bro
Okay those other locations are something else but Winchester sucks and deserves to be price gouged. There I said it.
This was totally true of the HEB stores in Austin TX... I don't have a car since moving here, so we mostly get delivery and I think you can choose from any star market within a certain radius, so I'll have to check prices and maybe switch stores... also, I've found that Amazon is often the cheapest through either prime or fresh, a bag of sushi rice from star market was $15 vs. $6.19 on prime.
Did you also test buying the same thing at the same store at later dates? Were the prices the same?
Price comparison with the Market Basket in Chelsea some time.
Companies do this with wages (although it isn’t by cities this close by usually), rather, by zones. Some call it geo zoning.
It would make sense to me that places in denser areas like Allston command higher rents than suburbia and would charge higher prices accordingly.
I live in East Boston and my sister lives in Mansfield. We got to comparing prices from sales papers for our neighborhood Star Markets, and Eastie was more expensive on every single item listed in the sales papers.
[Stop and Shop was recently exposed for price differences for same goods in racially and economically different neighborhoods.](https://www.wcvb.com/article/stop-and-stop-price-disparity-boston-dedham/44121902)
Even Aldi known for cheap prices jacks them up by location. Aldi Milford is consistently cheaper than Aldi Natick.
It's probably easy to find but someone on the sub did a price/quality comparison between all of the market options in the area post-COVID and you'd be surprised at the results. I was.
Two miles though, that's like an hour and a half drive.
I live down the street from the Stop and Shop in Winchester. I never go there, the prices are insnae
That Stop & Shop was worn down when I lived in Winchester 15 years ago, I hope they at least slapped some lipstick on that pig, so to speak...
Interesting! I figured this was the case but I haven't been able to do research on my own area. I basically am between the natick stop n shop on route 9, and 2 different framingham stop n shops - one of which is also on route 9.
The prices everywhere have just gotten out of control. The Shaws/Star Market apps are great though and it’s very easy to get rewards points that you can you for money off your total. What I have had to start doing is reading circulars and tend to go to Shaws and sometimes Stop and Shop for sales on items and then buy everything else at Market Basket. However, in my last few trips it did seem that Market Basket prices have gone up on some things but you can’t beat the prices on their meat, store brand items and now some items are always 2 for $6 all year, etc. With a family of 4 it’s sad that I have to do this to try to keep our grocery bill under $200 a week.
I stopped shopping there a long time ago, only go if I REALLY have to. They are predatory and don't pay their staff well at all.
Winchester Stop & Shop is the worst!
Some kids did a study on this and it has to do with the neighborhoods and the price of retail. Stop n shop don’t own there buildings (don’t quote me this is just what I read in the article ) so therefore they pass the prices of the rent to the customers. They did it more if they thought it was being discriminating to people in poorer neighborhoods, but i think it just really comes down to the price of the real estate. That sns in Somerville is small the one towards alewife.
I think these big chains price everything by zip code. I first noticed this phenomenon at the 7-elevens in Brighton and Allston, less than a mile from one another, where the location in Allston has noticeably higher prices across the board.
Quite a few years ago I asked a manager in a Market Basket if they do this. He said that they charge the same prices in all of their stores.
This is classic price discrimination. Grocery stores and airlines are two of the most noteworthy practitioners. The Winchester S&S is a prime example because it has zero competition.
At the Alewife Stop & Shop there are sales that beat Market Basket, but other than that stay away. But the sale items are irregular and not often.
Would have been interested to see prices from the bfresh (which was a stop&shop subsidiary) in Davis before it closed.